Red Flags
by The Disposable Villain
Summary: Arthur was a jerk. Sam was pretentious. Jack was worse than them both combined. Elliot was just asking to be punched in the face. And Riley was just... Oh dear God. They're all pretty bad. But they're also all pretty good. But is pretty good enough to figure out why people are going missing around Johto? Nah, they should leave that to the police. Oh right. That's not how it works.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! I'm Elliot. As you can probably tell from the summary, this story is going to have a tonne of swearing (starting now) and it's going to be derpy as fuck. It's kind of the sleepless induced humour of my friends and I (himeis1, SamaelDire, and fitzyfoop on wattpad). So it's mainly going to be us poking fun at each other and the main plot will probably surround Team Blizzard. Probably. So yeah, enjoy! If I've missed any content warnings, let me know.**

 **CW:** Fire, misgendering.

* * *

It was about fucking time Arthur's birthday rolled around. He had been waiting for this ever since the battle licence law came in. Everyone his age had been.

He fidgeted with the bands on his arms. Red, blue, purple, green. Red, blue, purple, green. Should he do this? It had been his fault. If it hadn't been for him, the battle licence wouldn't be in place.

He had forced children to watch their pokémon be taken away from them. Maybe he deserved to wait longer than everyone else.

He glanced up as a lock of curly green hair fell into his eye, and he took his blue-green hair clip out, readjusting it. A distraction. He liked distractions.

He adjusted his slate-coloured shirt. Okay. Okay, he could do this. It would be fine. He was just as entitled as everyone else to a partner and a battle licence.

He knocked on the door of the New Bark Town research lab. After a minute, the door cracked open. A girl with brown hair pulled up into two pigtails looked out at him. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah." Arthur toyed with the strap on his bag. "I'm here to get my battle licence."

She squinted at him. "You don't look sixteen." God damn it. "Can I see your passport or-?"

"Here," Arthur sighed, taking out the passport.

He offered it to her and she stared at his birthdate for a moment before handing it back. "Oh, my bad. Sorry about that. I had to check, just in case. I'm the professor's assistant." She rubbed the back of her neck and opened the door further. "There's already someone else here. We're just waiting on the professor to come back." She led Arthur through the hall, past various bookshelves filled with books and files dedicated to particular species of pokémon.

The person she had mentioned was standing by the wall, immersed in their phone. They looked up as Arthur and the assistant approached.

"Arthur, this is Samuel. Samuel, Arthur," the assistant introduced. "You two get acquainted for a few minutes while I find Professor Elm."

Arthur glanced at Samuel as the assistant scurried down the hall.

Snow white hair sprayed across his forehead, part of his fringe covering one of his grey eyes. A black ring hung from his nose, and a similar one sat in his lip. Something black outlined one of his earlobes, but with the blizzard of white, it was hard to tell what it was.

Samuel smirked as a door closed behind the assistant. "They believed I was sixteen."

Arthur blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes. "No they fucking didn't. You're smaller than me."

"Yeah, but they didn't check my passport." Samuel leaned against the wall behind him. One hand got caught in the edge of his long, black cardigan as he went to fold his arms, and he shook it loose.

Arthur rolled his eyes and looked away from him. "Whatever. I'm still taller than you."

Samuel shrugged and looked down at his phone again. "But they thought I was sixteen."

"Shut up. I hardly believe you're sixteen."

Samuel stared at him for a moment, slowly brought up his fist, and stuck up his middle finger. Arthur mimicked his actions.

They heard the door open and they quickly dropped their hands. Samuel pocketed his phone as the assistant, Professor Elm, and someone about their age entered the room.

"Samuel and Arthur, right?" Professor Elm grinned at them. "It's good to meet you. Oh, and this is Elliot." Elliot gave a tiny grin, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You're all here for your partners and battle licences?" All three nodded. "Perfect! Just follow me into the lab." He walked towards a door across from Samuel and unlocked it, beckoning them inside.

After a moment, everyone followed him. The lab had one large computer that kept flashing different pictures with two other researchers working at it, and one smaller one that was connected to a scanner and a printer. The bookshelves were filled with nothing but files in alphabetical and numerical orders.

Right beside the smaller laptop sat a tall table with three pokéballs sitting on it.

"You have your passport photos with you?" Professor Elm asked. Everyone passed the cut-out photos up to him. "Perfect. Just give me a second." He placed them on the scanner and typed a few things into the laptop. After a minute, the printer whirred to life and spat out three laminated cards.

He handed them out. The cards were all blue. Arthur cringed at his photo. His heterochromatic eyes looked too beady. Aside from the photo, the only things on the card were his name, age, place of birth, and Professor Elm's signature.

"You can all sign it on the back once you leave," Professor Elm told them. "Now, are you ready to pick your pokémon?"

"Cyndaquil!" Samuel called as a response.

"Bitch, no, that one's mine." Arthur shook his head.

"Fuck you, I'm taking it!" Samuel snapped.

Elliot hesitated and picked up the Chikorita's pokéball. He glanced at the professor, who just nodded and waved him off. He already looked tired. "You could just-"

"I'm not getting a fucking Totodile," Arthur insisted as Elliot left the lab.

"Well I'm getting the Cyndaquil. I called it first." Samuel shrugged.

Arthur stared at him for a moment before lunging for the pokéball and sprinting out of the lab.

Samuel only stared after him and turned to the professor. A shocked grin was spread across his face. He looked like he was about to start laughing at the ridiculousness of what happened. "Are you going to do anything? He just ran off with my pokémon!"

"Well…" Professor Elm rubbed the back of his neck. " _Technically_ it's his pokémon. He did pick it up first."

Samuel stared at him for a moment. "Well fuck you. I can get my own fucking pokémon." He stormed out of the lab. He had his licence and some pokéballs. He could definitely catch his own. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked down Route One.

He could catch a fucking Ledyba or something. How hard could it be? They were all really weak. He didn't need to fight them to catch it.

He gritted his teeth and kicked a stone. He didn't need a fucking-

He froze.

"Quil, quil, quil, quil." He stared at the Cyndaquil tottering across the path.

"That's… not supposed to be here…" He muttered. The Cyndaquil turned and looked up at him, tilting its head. "I should bring it back…" The Cyndaquil turned and kept toddling towards the trees.

Samuel hesitated. Bring it back, or catch it for himself? He wanted a Cyndaquil. There was currently the opportunity to catch one of his own – like he had promised he would – _right in front of him_.

But if he didn't bring it back, some trainer wouldn't get their starter pokémon next time. Just like he hadn't.

"Fuck it," he muttered, walking towards it. The Cyndaquil stopped and looked at him as he took some mints out of his pocket. "Hey, buddy. Do you want some food?" The Cyndaquil just tilted his head. "Or I have some poffins and berries? Would you like some of them?" No response. Probably a good thing; he only had mints. Samuel huffed and stood up. "Come on, follow me."

Nothing. He walked closer and nudged the Cyndaquil towards New Bark Town with his foot.

The second he moved his foot away, the Cyndaquil jumped right back to where it had been.

Samuel hesitated. "This is going to end _so_ badly." He unzipped his bag and placed the pokémon inside before beginning walking.

"Cynda-quil!"

He felt heat and saw light flare on the ground, and he burst out into a full-on sprint back to the research lab, his bag flaming as the Cyndaquil chanted inside.

"Quil! Quil! Quil! Quil!"

"Professor!" He roared as he neared the lab, seeing the door open.

Professor Elm looked up just as Samuel dropped his bag in front of him. Thankfully, the flames were dying from the wind and only the front of his bag had lit up.

His bag was ruined, along with a few belongings, but he wasn't hurt.

The Cyndaquil clambered out and shook a flaking piece of fabric off its back. "Quil."

"I-I found it on Route One," Samuel panted.

Professor Elm grinned. "Thank you. I was beginning to wonder where he had gone." He crouched down. "Want to go home?" The Cyndaquil shook his head and waddled back over to Samuel. "Huh."

"Huh?" Samuel blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Cyndaquil's taken a liking to you," Professor Elm chuckled, standing upright. Samuel looked down at it as it nuzzled against his leg. "You know, if you want, you could take him as your starter. As long as you're not set on catching your own."

Samuel hesitated. "I… Are you sure? No one else will want one?"

Professor Elm laughed. "No, no one else in New Bark Town is due to get their licence for another week or so, so I have plenty of time to have a few more transferred to me." He held out a pokéball.

Samuel looked down at the Cyndaquil. "I guess. I mean, if he's up for grabs." He hesitantly took the pokéball and pressed the button. Cyndaquil tilted his head as the beam of light hit him and he disappeared into the ball.

Professor Elm smiled. "I should get down to the Poké Centre. They need a bit of help. Have a good journey." He looked down at Samuel's ruined bag. "You might want to get a new bag though."

"Yeah, thanks." Samuel slipped Cyndaquil's pokéball onto his belt and scooped his belongings into his arms. "I'll be sure to do that."

At least he had technically caught his first starter pokémon. Technically. It was better than Arthur anyway.

* * *

Arthur hummed as he walked, tapping his feet every so often in rhythm with the tune falling from his mouth. Route One was actually sort of peaceful, if you found your way around the trainers.

Which he hadn't. He had already fought two. But it wasn't so bad, and his Cyndaquil seemed to enjoy it. Plus he got money from it.

 _And he had seen a Hopip._ He didn't care how common they were. Their headpiece _span_. They were great.

He didn't get to catch it though. He had tried, but Cyndaquil was a fire type pokémon and Hopip was grass, and he had just made the poor thing faint, but he didn't have any potions, so he had just kind of panicked and placed it under a bush where it would be safe from other pokémon.

He winced. Probably safe anyway.

Maybe he should go back and check. He turned around. Or was it a tree he had put it under?

Fuck it, it would be fine. He turned around and kept walking. Probably.

He turned around again. Maybe-

"Hey, you're a trainer, right?"

The voice made him jump and twist around again. Then he realised the voice was coming from where he had just been facing, and he turned back around.

The boy stood an inch taller than him, with dark brown, wavy hair hanging over his face. The fringe wasn't quite long enough to be considered emo or scene, but the dip-dyed purple ends were enough to assure Arthur that he probably was one of the two. One eye glared a deeper green than the other, and four silver piercings hung off his left ear.

He clutched a pokéball, hand hanging by a rip in his slate-coloured jeans as he rolled up the sleeve of his black and grey shirt with his free hand.

"Well?"

Arthur blinked. "Well what?"

"Are you a trainer or not?"

His voice sounded rich and deep, like an upper-class Governess who settled in Arthur's short term memory as a woman drinking tea from a very thin China cup with one little finger raised in the air as she pouted her lips and stared disdainfully at the rugrats surrounding her.

Arthur nodded. "Yeah, why?" The boy raised an eyebrow and held up his pokéball. "Oh, right. We met eyes and now we need to battle."

The boy scowled. "What? No. I saw the back of your head and I'm just trying to get some money to buy some bloody pokéballs. They're more expensive here than Kanto."

"Oh." Arthur pulled out Cyndaquil's pokéball. "Yeah sure." He tapped the button in the middle, and in a flash of light, Cyndaquil appeared in front of him.

"Quil!"

The corner of the boy's lip quirked and he threw his pokéball into the air. "Charmander, let's go."

The orange dinosaur pokémon landed neatly on the ground, grinning as its tail flared. "Char!"

Arthur's eyes widened. "Oh my God, you have a Charmander!"

He rushed forward and knelt down by the pokémon. "Hey! I'm Arthur!"

The Charmander hesitated and looked back at the boy before holding an arm out to Arthur. "Char."

"Argh, I love him!" Arthur gushed as he took the Charmander's hand and shook it.

"Uh… yeah. Thanks?" The boy looked just as confused as the Charmander. "So are we going to-"

"Ah, you are just so cute!" Arthur scratched beneath the Charmander's chin. It's eyes widened and then closed as it leaned it's head back, a purr gurgling up at the back of its throat. "What's its name?"

"His name's Charmander."

"Original."

"Yeah well what's yours' name?"

Arthur paused. "Good point." He kept scratching the Charmander. His tail flared brighter. "Oh, sorry. I kind of ruined the battle." He made no move to stop petting the Charmander. His own pokémon tilted its head. "C'mon, buddy." Cyndaquil rushed up to him and butted against his free hand, and Arthur used it to rub his back.

The boy just stared at him for a minute.

"I'm Arthur," he finally said in the midst of petting the two pokémon, "by the way."

"Jack," the boy finally said. "So… are we doing this or…?"

Arthur stopped petting. Both pokémon whined until he started again. "The pokémon have spoken."

"So…" Jack kicked the ground. "That's a no?"

"That's a no."

"Yeah, I thought so."

* * *

"Hello?" Samuel called as he pushed open the door of his house.

His aunt peered out from the kitchen. "Sam, I thought you were going?" She sounded worried. "You got your battle licence, didn't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

"And your pokémon?"

Samuel couldn't help but grin. "In a roundabout way, but yeah. I just kind of ruined my bag." He held up the burnt rucksack. A charred hoodie fell out.

His aunt tutted. "Go pack yourself another one and I'll make you some more sandwiches. You should be more careful, dear."

"My pokémon set it on fire!" Samuel protested.

"Then you probably had it coming."

Samuel shook his head and made his way to his room. She probably wasn't wrong, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Fuck," he muttered. His favourite Trivium top had been in that.

He dropped the ruined bag on the floor and grabbed a slightly bulkier one from beneath his bed.

What to bring. Oh the choices. Black clothes, grey clothes, black, black, more grey.

Okay, no. Essentials first. He packed up one of his sets of pencils, and a thick drawing pad. Then his pokédex. Then mints. And maybe a packet of crisps.

No, he took that out. The crisps might burst in his bag.

He should probably add in some money. He dropped his wallet into the bottom of his bag and scoured the remains of what he had in his burnt bag.

He found his Trivium t-shirt a little sooty, but relatively unharmed. He dropped that in too. And his camera. Just in case. Oh, and fidget cube.

And some spare piercings in a case.

Finally, he turned to clothes. He just grabbed three or four jeans and shoved them in, and then piled up a few t-shirts and jumpers on top of them. He closed the bag, gritting his teeth as he dragged the zip down the last two inches.

"Sam!"

"Coming!" He grunted, lugging the back onto his bag. The strap caught his cardigan, and he yanked it free as he walked into the kitchen.

His aunt stood waiting for him, Poocheyena panting happily beside her. "Are you ready to go?"

Samuel nodded. "Yeah, I have everything. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," she sighed, "but be more careful next time." He nodded as she held out a bag. "Lunch. And some spending money. I'll wire you more every week, and call me if you ever need extra, okay?"

"Thanks." Samuel grinned at her. "I will."

"Oh, and would you do me a favour?"

Samuel hesitated. "Um… sure?"

His aunt reached down and scratched Poocheyena behind her ears. "This little girl doesn't like battle very much, but your uncle and I can't do contests anymore, and they were what she used to live for." She looked up at her nephew. "I know you want to go down that line. Would you bring Poocheyena with you?"

Samuel laughed. "God, yeah, sure! I thought you were going to ask me to do something weird."

His aunt frowned. "Like what?"

"I don't even know." Samuel shook his head and crouched down in front of Poocheyena. "Do you want to come with me girl?"

She barked and put a paw on his leg.

"Here." Samuel's aunt passed him a pokéball. He took it and pressed a button. Poocheyena disappeared in a flash of light. "She doesn't like them much, so remember to take her out once you get to Route One. Oh, and don't let her wander off."

"I won't," Samuel promised, standing up.

His aunt pulled him into a tight embrace. After a second, he returned it. "And you stay safe," she mumbled, "you hear me? I don't want to hear about you getting mixed up in any of the things your uncle and I used to, like Team Rocket, or-"

"I'll be fine," Samuel assured her, giving her one last squeeze before releasing her. "I'll call you, okay?"

"You'd better." She nodded as her nephew walked towards the door. "I'll talk to you later."

Samuel threw a grin over his shoulder as he left the house and made his way towards Route One, quite determined not to pick up another fire type pokémon until he could afford to replace anything that was destroyed.

He made it to Route One without incident this time, but as he neared the middle of the trail, he spotted a familiar bush of dyed hair crouched beside a Charmander.

And an even more familiar grinning asshole.

"What are you doing here?"

Jack looked up at him and smirked. "Nice to see you too, Sam."

Samuel glared at them. "I caught a Cyndaquil," he snapped after a moment too long of silence.

Arthur just kept petting the pokémon. "Good for you."

"I _caught_ it."

"So you said."

"And a Poocheyena."

"Neat."

"You're a dick."

"How dare!" Arthur scowled, but his lip twitched.

"He actually didn't do anything to you, so aren't you the dick for calling him a dick?" Jack folded his arms, smirking.

"You shut up." Samuel glared at him and stormed over to a ledge.

"Dude, you're not meant to climb them," Arthur warned.

"And you're not meant to steal other peoples' pokémon!" Samuel shot over his shoulder.

"Hey, I touched the pokéball first, this Cyndaquil is mine." Arthur stood up and brushed grass off his knees.

Samuel flipped him off and grabbed hold of the ledge, kicking himself up. Only to slide back down again. "Ah, fuck!"

"Just walk around it," Arthur groaned.

"You walk around it." He tried again.

"You're doing it wrong," Jack sang.

Samuel huffed. "Then you come over here and do it right!"

"Okay, I will." Jack strolled over. Arthur whined as he pressed a button and his Charmander returned to his pokéball. His shoulder hit off Samuel's, and the latter shoved him away. "What was that for?"

"You bumped into me!"

"By accident."

"Bullshit, I know you better than that!"

Jack smirked and pulled himself up the ledge. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Asshole," Samuel muttered.

Jack managed not to fall. He just kept propelling himself upward until he was sitting two and a half metres above Samuel and Arthur. "Are you coming or not?"

Arthur stared up at the ledge. "I have fuck all hand-eye coordination, so I might just go around."

"See you there." Samuel tried to climb again, and slid down.

Arthur groaned and walked over to him. "Here, you're smaller than me. I'll help you up and you pull me up after you."

Samuel frowned at him. "I'm an inch shorter."

"You're still shorter."

"Well they believed I was sixteen."

"Okay, do you want my help or not?" Samuel muttered something under his breath but nodded. "I thought so." Arthur bridged his hands. "Step on my hands and I'll try to push you up to the ledge halfway. Can you get up from there?"

"Yeah, sure." Samuel nodded. He placed one foot in Arthur's hands and pushed up, but waited a second too long.

Arthur lost his balance and sent them both crashing into the wall.

"Dick!"

"It was an accident!" Arthur insisted as Samuel caught the ledge with one hand.

The other just grunted and hauled himself up. Jack watched with folded arms and a wide grin as Samuel dragged himself up to where he was sitting. "Well, fancy seeing you here so soon."

"You could have helped," Samuel groaned as he rolled onto his back. His cheek was grazed from the crash.

"Little help?" Arthur called.

Samuel smirked and sat up. "Sorry. I'm too short to reach."

Arthur stared up at him and stuck up his middle finger before storming off.

Samuel just snickered.

"Now who's the ass?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

Samuel forced himself to his feet. "He stole my pokémon, it was only fair."

"Cyndaquil's my pokémon."

Samuel yelped and whipped around. Arthur was walking towards them from behind a tree. "The fuck?"

"The 'long' way around was literally just behind that tree." Arthur jabbed a thumb at the coniferous behind him. "You spent more time climbing than you would have walking around."

Samuel opened his mouth but nothing came out.

Jack snickered. "He's speechless. First time for everything."

"So there's going to be a time you're not a smart ass?" Samuel stared at him with mock-amazement.

Jack glared. "Fuck off, at least I climbed the ledge on my own."

Samuel looked away from him. "Are you both going to Cherrygrove or…?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm pretty sure there's something blocking the road to the other city that way, so yeah."

Arthur nodded. "Me too. Gyms and all that."

Samuel clicked his tongue. "May as well stick together I guess."

"Oh yeah," Jack agreed. "Never know when you might need someone to help you up a ledge."

"Safety in numbers." Arthur grinned. "Against kids trying to get their siblings to battle us."

"And annoying scene kids with purple hair." Samuel smiled at Jack.

"And infuriating emos with white hair." Jack returned the smile.

"You're both nerds," Arthur laughed.

"I resent that!" Jack frowned.

Samuel stared at him. "You resent _everything_."

"Touché."

* * *

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Elliot shrieked.

The girl behind him snickered. "Are you okay?"

Elliot glared at her. "I was before you snuck up on me."

She raised an eyebrow. "I walked up to you and asked if you were lost. I'd hardly constitute that as sneaking."

Elliot hesitated. "Yeah, well I didn't hear you."

"Because you were singing."

Elliot looked away. "I'm not really lost, I just came looking for a good picture." He flashed his phone instead of replying to her comment. "I'm Elliot."

The girl gave him a grin. "Riley." Her auburn hair sat in an undercut faux hawk, and a piercing decorated her nose and each ear. She was just a tad shorter than Elliot and she wore an odd combination of jeans, black boots, a band t-shirt that Elliot recognised but couldn't quite remember, a flannel shirt, and a denim jacket.

"Are you not hot?"

"Yes. I am."

Elliot grinned. "Nice." He looked around. "So you know how I said I wasn't lost?"

"You're lost?" Riley guessed.

"Yeah, I'm lost."

Riley shook her head and turned away. "I thought as much. C'mon, the city isn't far from here."

Elliot nodded and ran to catch up, pushing strands of royal purple hair out of his glasses-covered eyes. "So are you a trainer?"

Riley hesitated. "In a way." Her reply was cautious, words slow as though still considering them as she spoke. "I have a pokémon, but she doesn't battle."

"Oh, okay." Elliot nodded. "What type?"

"Her name's Ashla," Riley replied. "She's a Ninetales."

Elliot stopped dead in his tracks, gaping at Riley. "A Ninetales? How do you have a Ninetales, you're like twelve!"

"I got my Battle Licence at the same time as you," Riley reminded him. "And she was kind of a family pokémon. She evolved before she became my pokémon."

Elliot just shook his head. " _Ninetales_?"

Riley chuckled. "Come on, let's get you to the city." She began walking again.

They were there within a few minutes, and Elliot winced. "Oh… I forgot…"

"Forgot what?" Riley raised an eyebrow.

"To text my friend. He lives here and…" He cringed. "Yeah… He's gonna be pissed."

Riley shrugged. "Just tell him you forgot."

"That'll make it worse." Elliot glanced around and stopped when he saw a boy walking towards them. Brown hair scattered over a pale forehead and grey eyes latched onto them. "Hey, Salem."

"You were meant to text me," Salem groaned, pulling Elliot into a hug.

Elliot chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. I went off track."

"You were on your phone again, weren't you?"

"Shut up, it was a nice picture." Elliot pulled back. "Salem, this is Riley. She helped me find here. Riley, Salem."

Salem gave her a grin and a onceover before holding out his hand. She raised an eyebrow but shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Just as it had been when explaining that she didn't battle, her voice was slow and cautious.

Elliot glanced behind them. "Oh God it's them." He cringed but looked like he was trying not to laugh. "They were fighting over a Cyndaquil and as far as I know, one just kind of grabbed it and ran."

Salem sighed and shook his head. "The girl or one of the boys?"

"They're all boys."

"No they're not."

Elliot hesitated. "Yes, they are. I think. Okay, granted, I don't know the guy with the purple emo fringe but the other two were using male pronouns."

Salem rolled his eyes. "If you say so Belle."

Riley didn't even glance at Salem. "Elliot," she corrected.

Salem ignored her. "Are you two going to the gym?"

"I am." Elliot glanced over at Riley. "Have you got something planned?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I've just kind of been wandering around for a while so I'll come with you."

Elliot's face lit up and he started laughing. "I'd rather you didn't."

Salem frowned. "That was rude."

Elliot shook his head, laughing harder. Riley sighed. "This is what I'm going to need to put up with isn't it?" Elliot tried to stop laughing, but failed and nodded.

Salem groaned when he caught on. "Belle, why?"

That stopped his laugher. "I'm horrible, you know that."

"True." Salem shook his head.

Riley coughed. "Elliot."

Elliot looked away. "Leave it," he mumbled.

Salem glanced at Riley. "So are you two together?" He waggled his eyebrows.

Elliot buried his face in his hands. " _No_. She made a pun like first thing."

"You did the same," Riley snorted. "And yours was a lot worse than mine."

"She's the pun queen," Salem agreed.

Elliot shuffled his feet. "Yeah. Sorta."

Riley chewed her tongue as she glanced at Salem. "We're going to go to the gym."

"I'll come with you," he jumped in. "I haven't seen Belle in ages and I'm not letting her go just yet."

"Leave it, leave it, leave it," Elliot chanted under his breath.

Riley decided not to. "I will fight if you don't knock it off."

Salem blinked. "What?" Anger seeped into his voice.

"His name's Elliot."

"No, it's Belle. And why would you fight me?" He raised his hands. "What did I ever do to you?"

Riley folded her arms. "This handsome young man's name is Elliot. Now, I don't know where you got the other name from, or where you get off using the wrong pronouns, but you need to stop."

"Whatever." Salem scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets. Elliot's face was bright, a grin creeping across it.

Riley gave him a far-too-polite smile and turned away. "You coming, Elliot?"

"Yep!" Elliot chased after her, slowing once they were further away from Salem. "Thank you so much for that, I'm sorry."

Riley shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It's what friends do, right?"

"It's not what he does." Elliot swallowed. "Thanks. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising, it wasn't your fault." Riley shook her head. "And if it's not, then he's not a very good friend."

Elliot opened his mouth, but closed it again. "Thanks," he finally mumbled. Riley nodded as they neared the gym.

There was a small cluster of people outside, and Elliot recognised Arthur and Samuel from the lab, but two people were blocking the door. Hair and uniforms immaculate and neat, they were reminiscent of the sensation of bugs crawling on skin.

Nothing there at a first glance, but it certainly feels like there is.

"Sorry guys, the gym's under maintenance today. One of the battles got a bit too intense and the second floor needs to be repaired," one of the uniformed two called.

"It should be sorted by tomorrow," the other assured them as a few groans rose up.

Elliot hummed. He glanced up at Riley. "Want to go for a coffee or something?" He was meant to stay with Salem for the night and wanted to put that off for as long as possible now.

"Sure," Riley agreed, though her gaze was still on the two. "You don't want to make sure it's not a test?"

Elliot shook his head. "Nah. Confrontation." He grimaced. "Starmiebucks?"

Riley gave him a flat look. "It's Starbucks. Like a star."

"Mie," Elliot added. "Like a Starmie."

Riley sighed. "I'm going to need that coffee."

Elliot smiled. "You love me."

"Debatable. Very debatable."

* * *

Jack clicked his tongue as a few people left. "They're lying."

"They're probably not." Samuel shrugged. "The second floor is pretty high up and doesn't have railings from what I've heard, and battles can get pretty rough. If that floor is damanged, it'd be too dangerous not to repair."

"They're lying."

"You're just pissed because you want to battle," Arthur muttered.

"Maybe," Jack agreed but he walked up to the two.

One frowned at him. "Sorry, you can't go inside."

"Why not?" Jack's eyebrows arched.

"We already told you; the gym is under maintenance." She folded her arms. "It's not safe."

"Exactly," her companion snickered. "Run off and come back tomorrow, kids."

Jack's eyes flashed. "Excuse me?"

"He said you can come back tomorrow," the girl covered.

Jack reached into his belt and drew out a pokéball. "I will fucking fight you both. Let us into the gym."

The boy grabbed a pokéball. "Don't threaten us or we'll be forced to react accordingly."

"Charmander!" Jack threw the pokéball into the air. His Charmander landed neatly on the ground in front of him with a snarl.

"Hoppip! Now!" The boy called. His pokémon appeared. "We're cooler than you; we'll definitely win."

Jack smirked. "So you're not officials from the league then. I thought as much." He glanced at his pokémon. "Charmander, use Flame."

Charmander's mouth swelled and his tail brightened before a small fireball burst from his mouth and flew at the Hoppip. It didn't manage to dodge and was thrown back a bit.

"Hoppip, Bullet Seed!"

A string of seeds shot at Charmander.

"Dodge."

Charmander jumped back and the seeds hit the ground, sending a blanket of dust into the air.

"Use the dust."

Charmander nodded and ran through the cloud. Hoppip squinted and moved a little closer to try and find him.

Jack smirked. "Tackle." Charmander lunged from the sand and knocked Hoppip into the ground.

It didn't get back up.

The boy growled and clicked the button on the pokéball, recalling his Hoppip.

"So, I'm guessing you're part of a Team Rocket copycat group," Jack drawled, "intent on capturing other peoples' pokémon. You barricaded off the gym so when no one was around, you could go inside and steal the Leader's pokémon, correct?" The girl floundered. "I thought as much." He strode up the steps. He was shorter than both of them, but they stepped away from him. "Run off and don't come back, kids."

The boy grabbed his companion's hand and dragged her away.

Jack glanced back at Arthur and Samuel. "Fat lot of help you two were."

"Oh shut up, you just jumped into that battle," Samuel protested. "How were we meant to help?"

"There was another of them, wasn't there?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, you could have, maybe – just maybe now – fought her to make sure they wouldn't come back?"

"You fought them because he said you were a kid," Arthur emphasised.

"But were they or were they not part of a Team Rocket gang?" Jack smirked.

"We don't know because you fucking chased them off!"

"They wouldn't have run if they weren't!"

"But we still can't confirm that they were!"

"They had fucking TB on the badges!"

Samuel paused. "TB?"

Jack sighed. "Yes, I fucking heard it. Shut up. My point is they're part of a gang and I shut it down."

"Ah yes, bow down!" Samuel called. "Bow down to the master! The Deliverer of Righteousness! Bow down, for it is He who singlehandedly defeated the may-or-may-not-be Team because one member pissed him off! _Bow, mortals, bow!_ "

"Exactly." Jack smirked at Arthur. "Bow down."

"He was being sarcastic."

"No I wasn't," Samuel snickered. Arthur elbowed him.

Jack shook his head. "I swear, the second I get this badge, I'm ditching you two." They all knew he was lying. He walked up to the gym doors and pushed them open. "Are you foolish mortals coming or not?"

"Says the one who was telling us to bow down," Arthur snorted as he and Samuel began to follow Jack inside.

"Yeah," he agreed, "because I'm better than mortal."

"Oh, so you're a Ditto then?" Samuel grinned. "Well that makes a lot more sense."

"I hate you both."

* * *

Oh yeah, Sam's not bitter at _all_. This was genuinely the result of an argument over who would get the Cyndaquil so we just kind of went fuck it, both of you are getting one. Hope you enjoyed even though it's short. Please review. See you next time, Murdering Majestors!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys sorry for the wait with this. Hope it's okay! Because England doesn't exist in this, English is now Johton.**

* * *

Sam grinned as his opponent's Pidgeotto fainted. Falkner reluctantly called him back to his pokéball and hooked it onto his belt. "That was a good match. You've connected with your Cyndaquil well."

Because he caught it. Sam's grin grew. "Thanks."

Falkner crossed the battlefield and handed Samuel a small, silver badge. "Here's the Zephyr Badge. You earned it." Sam took it and pinned it to his bag. "As you know, some of the pokémon you trade will obey you now and-"

"Yeah, he heard it when you told us," Jack called from the side of the field. "Come on."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sorry." He shook the gym leader's hand and crossed the field over to the two.

Arthur only glanced up from his phone for a second. "Are you finally done?"

"Shut up; I got it," Sam huffed, adjusting his bag strap.

"Yeah, but you took so _long_ ," Jack complained, pushing himself to his feet.

"Yeah – I thought your Cyndaquil was better than mine." Arthur smirked, raising his eyebrows. He pocketed his phone as Sam glared at him.

"I _caught_ mine."

"And I battled for less time."

"Yeah, fuck you." Sam folded his arms. He made sure not to catch his hand on his cardigan again. "Should we go and find somewhere to stay for the night?"

Jack shrugged. "What makes you think I want to stay with you nerds?"

"Hey." They all turned to look at the gym leader. "Can you guys get out of the gym if you're done? I do have other challengers."

"Sorry." Arthur cringed and they began walking to the elevator that brought challengers up to and down from the raised battlefield. "But given that you didn't leave during Sam's battle, I'd say you're staying with us."

Jack narrowed his eyes and pressed the down button. "Maybe I was just waiting to see how long it would actually take him to finish it."

"Oh come on," Sam groaned as the doors pinged open. "I was like... ten minutes."

"And I was five." Arthur grinned and walked in.

"You know what? Fuck you." Sam reluctantly followed him and Jack inside.

Jack pressed the button for the first floor. "You really need to come up with better comebacks." Sam just slowly raised his middle finger. "Okay, but seriously – do either of you have anywhere to stay?"

Arthur checked his wallet. "There's a hostel down the road and we should have enough money after that battle?"

"May as well check," Jack sighed. When the doors opened, they left the gym.

The 'TB' people were still gone, a few marks on the ground the only indicator of Jack's fight with them. The sun was beginning to set now after the battles, and the mainly white-walled city was dyed red and orange by the light.

The hostel was at the back of the pokémon centre, a gentler colour than the neon orange but still noticeable. Inside, a woman with purple hair smiled at them. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Yeah, can we get a room for three people?" Jack just put his money on the counter.

The receptionist glanced at her computer. "We don't have any three-person rooms, but we have one for five? Two people have already taken the other two."

Jack glanced back at Arthur and Sam. "Is that okay?" When both nodded, he turned back to the receptionist. "Yeah, we'll take those three."

"Perfect." The receptionist took his money and passed him out a key. "You're in room five."

Sam grabbed the key and began walking. "Thanks for paying, Jack."

Jack blinked a few times as Arthur snickered and followed him. "Yeah, that was really nice of you."

"Wait what?" He stared after them for a moment before jogging to catch up. "No! Hey, give me my money back! I'm poor!"

"You had enough money to pay for it." Sam shrugged as they reached the room and he unlocked the door.

Jack glared at him. "I want my money back."

"And I wanted a Cyndaquil at the lab but things don't go your way all the time." Sam shot a look at Arthur as he pushed open the door.

Inside was the boy from the lab and a girl with red hair. The boy looked up and grinned. "Oh, hey it's you. Did you decide who got the Cyndaquil?"

"I did." Arthur grinned and Sam flipped him off.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

Elliot blinked. "Oh, hi! I'm Elliot. I got my licence at the same time as them." He hesitated. "And you?"

"Jack."

"Oh, cool." Elliot grinned.

The girl gave a tiny wave as eyes fell onto her. "I'm Riley."

"Sam." Sam nodded and dumped his bag onto the bottom bunk of one of the beds. "And this is mine."

"Ugh, fuck you," Arthur huffed as Jack claimed the other bottom bunk. "I'm Arthur."

"Cool." Riley nodded slowly.

Elliot's eyes landed on Sam's bag and lit up. "You guys got to the gym? I thought it was blocked off."

"Nah, just a few assholes trying to cause shit." Jack smirked. "I got rid of them."

"It wasn't that impressive." Sam rolled his eyes.

"I didn't see you getting rid of them." Jack shot a look over his shoulder. "And you took twice as long as us with your battle."

"Well I had less time to train my Cyndaquil because _someone_ ran out of the lab with the other one and left me stranded for a few hours."

"Are you guys okay?" Elliot asked after a second.

Sam glanced at him. "Yeah, of course." He grinned. "So what did you two do if you didn't go to the gym?"

Elliot glanced at Riley. She glared. "Hoe, don't do it-"

"We went to Star _mie_ bucks."

Riley sighed as the other three groaned. "Alright, time to find a spoon to stab you with."

Elliot jumped out of his chair and onto the top bunk. "Nope. No."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "I'm taller than you. Do you think I won't come up there to stab you?"

"You'd get blood everywhere."

"No blood if we burn the building down," Arthur mumbled under his breath.

Elliot huffed and grabbed his wallet, climbing down to the door. "I'm going to Starmiebucks."

"Say it again and I will actually stab you."

* * *

"You ready for this?" Salem nudged Elliot as they and Riley walked towards the gym. "Your first battle. This sets up your entire career as a trainer – how you do in this singular battle."

"Please don't," Elliot half groaned, a feeble smile etched onto his face, cheeks pale. "I'm already nervous enough."

"You'll be fine," Salem assured him, grabbing his arm and giving it a squeeze. "Just take him out quickly."

Riley glanced up from her phone, eyebrows raised, but didn't comment on the situation. Technically, he would be better off drawing the battle out and using defence lowering attacks. But she was pretty certain that Elliot had only taught his pokémon offensive moves.

"I know." Elliot nodded as they reached the doors and he slowly made his way in.

The elevator brought them up in silence and once they emerged, Falkner turned to smile at them. "Another challenger? You're piling in recently. How many are there now?"

"Just me." Elliot rubbed the top of one of his pokéballs, a nervous habit that was developing fast, as he stepped forward. "I mean- unless-" He glanced back at Riley, but she shook her head. "No. Just me."

"I see." Falkner's eyes shone, and he cocked his head to the side. "Well my usual trainers are out so you'll just be facing me head on. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, of course! That's fine." Elliot nodded and moved a little closer. Salem and Riley made their way to the edges so they could watch the battle without becoming part of it. "So, uh... should I just-"

Falkner threw a pokéball up and it flashed. "Pidgey, come on out!" The Pidgey cooed as it emerged. It circled around his head for a moment before settling on the battlefield.

Elliot chewed his lip before throwing his pokéball too. "Chikorita!"

His Chikorita darted out and stood proudly in front of him, tossing her head back.

Falkner regarded his pokémon with a hum. "This doesn't look like it'll be a difficult win for me. You should have thought this out a little better."

Elliot chuckled nervously. "I mean, I know grass isn't great against flying, but Chikorita's my bae and I love her." He paused. "Or she will be my bae. When she evolves. Cause she'll be a Bayleaf."

"Stop," Riley groaned from the sidelines, miming hitting her head off the railing.

Elliot tried not to laugh as Falkner sighed, looking far more tired than he had when they walked in. "The challenger can go first."

The battle was actually harder for Falkner than he had anticipated – largely due to Elliot mock battling with Riley and Salem, and fighting most pokémon he came across in the wild. Used to going up against fire and flying types, Chikorita's agility had gone up and she had grown accustomed to sudden orders as well as literally jumping onto the opposing pokémon.

When Falkner's Pidgeotto came out, Elliot had to switch to a Ratatta – a lower power level but strategically better. He wore Falkner's pokémon down, and then switched back to Chikorita towards the end of the battle to finish it off.

It was a chaotic mess of a fight; the equivalent of throwing a ball into a crowd of dogs. But he managed to win.

Falkner called his Pidgeotto back as Chikorita trudged over to Elliot. "You did well," he admitted, "even with a weaker type." Elliot crouched down and gently rubbed Chikorita's head before calling her back to his pokéball. "But you need to take better care of your pokémon. You wore your Chikorita down a lot there."

Elliot winced. "Sorry."

Falkner just shook his head. "It's not me you need to apologise to. Just be more careful." He took something out of his pocket and made his way closer. "Here." He dropped the badge into Elliot's hand. "Go heal up your pokémon."

Elliot's eyes lit up. "Thank you! I won't let it happen again!"

"See to it that you don't." Falkner nodded and Elliot ran over to his friends.

"I got it!"

"That's great." Riley grinned at her as Salem mimicked her actions.

"Yeah, well done!"

"Thanks!" Elliot giggled, half breathless with the adrenaline rushing through his body. "Oof, sorry."

"Don't apologise." Salem shot him a look. "What are you apologising for?"

Elliot shrugged and shook his head. "Compulsiveness. Sorry." He turned towards the elevator. "Come on – I need to go to the pokémon centre and then we need to get lunch."

Riley nodded slowly. "Yeah, we're meant to meet up with the others at that sandwich bar."

"Which others?" Salem raised an eyebrow.

"Oh – Samuel, Arthur, and Jack," Elliot explained. "We met them yesterday at the hostel. They're relatively nice."

Riley shot him a look. "Jack threatened to stab you."

Elliot shrugged, laughing as they entered the elevator and he pressed the down button. "I mean, so did you."

"Yeah, but I'm not nice."

Elliot's face warped to a look of comedic horror and mild concern. "What? No! You're amazing!"

Riley gave him a small grin but shook her head as the doors opened. They were quick about leaving Elliot's pokémon in to be healed, and the nurses assured them that they could go to lunch and come back to pick them up.

They found the trio waiting on lunch outside a small café. Sam had pulled his hat down on his head to shield his eyes from the warm light, and Arthur was squinting at his phone. Jack was just leaning on his hand, watching a lazy Pidgey hop around on the ground.

Elliot slid onto the bench beside Arthur and held out his badge. "Guess who just got his first badge?"

Arthur grinned at him. "Ey, well done."

Jack smirked at him. "How long did it take you?" Sam glared at him but Elliot just laughed.

" _Ages_. Like, I was fighting for at least half an hour."

"It was forty minutes," Riley cut in as she sat beside Jack. "But to be fair, he had a type disadvantage."

"Yeah, Sam." Jack turned to the other boy, smirking. "What's your excuse?"

Sam just shoved him – almost off the bench. "I hate you." He turned to Elliot. "But well done."

"Aah, you too," Elliot half screamed. Well, no; it wasn't a scream. Not a real one. More like a strained whisper-scream. "Sorry. I'm bad at compliments."

"You're fine." Arthur shook his head as Salem coughed. Loudly.

Elliot blinked. "Oh, right! This is Salem. Salem, that's Sam, Jack's the one on the floor – are you okay?" Jack gave him a thumbs up as he pulled himself up again. "Good. And this is Arthur."

Salem gave a friendly nod and extended his hand to shake all of theirs. He frowned when Sam didn't take it, but didn't object. "Have you guys ordered yet?"

"Not yet." Jack shook his head. "Arthur insisted that we should be polite and wait for you."

"I still think that was a bad idea," Sam muttered. "You took too long. No offence."

"None taken." Elliot grabbed a menu. "Sorry."

"Hey, no apologising." Salem elbowed him. "She gets that you were battling."

Elliot's eyes flickered to Sam. "Oh, uh... by the way – I never got to ask what pronouns you guys use." He spoke a little more loudly than necessary, as though to drown out the already spoken words.

"He and him," Sam replied, purposely glancing at Salem as he said it.

Jack gave a wave. "Yeah, me too." Arthur just nodded. "What about you?"

Elliot hesitated. Fuck. He really hadn't thought this through properly. Not with Salem there. "Um... I-"

"What do you mean by pronouns?" Salem cut in.

Jack waved a hand. "What to refer to you by. So if someone said you went to the shop, would they use he, she, they, or something else."

"Oh, yeah he." Salem frowned. "Who would use they? Or something else- there isn't even something else."

"A lot of people." Sam frowned at him. "And there are other things. Some people use zie or ey or-"

"But they're not words."

"They are." Riley hummed, looking up from the menu. "They're not Johton pronouns but some people prefer them."

"But that doesn't make sense. If you speak Johton, why wouldn't you use Johton pronouns?" Salem shrugged.

"Because. They mightn't speak Johton or prefer the sound." Riley looked at the menu again. "Like, I don't so I can't really speak for people that use other pronouns, but just respect them. Ask how to use them if you don't know."

"That's too difficult." Salem shook his head as the waitress neared them. "Just use Johton ones if you speak it."

Jack frowned at him, a half disbelieving grin stretching over his face. "I'm not even Johton. You know that right?"

"Well- Yeah, but you speak Johton when you're here," Salem pointed out, folding his arms.

The waitress hesitated. "Should I come back later?"

"No, it's fine," Elliot jumped in. "Come on – let's just order. It doesn't matter."

Salem huffed and looked at the menu but didn't argue until they had all ordered their food and drinks. "I just mean you should learn the language of whatever region you're in and use it. It doesn't matter what pronouns you usually use – just use the ones there."

"Okay." Sam leaned over the table. "So Alola doesn't have gender specific pronouns. They just use the equivalent of they and them over there. So you'd be okay with no one referring to you as a boy or calling you he?"

"I guess?" Salem scoffed. "But that doesn't work grammatically."

"It's a different language," Elliot mumbled. "And it still works in Johton."

"No, it doesn't."

"Are you really questioning my grammatical knowledge?" Elliot raised an eyebrow but sank back down into his seat when he saw Salem's frown.

"Okay, but no one uses they."

"I do," Riley spoke up. "Like, I usually use she but they and them are good too."

Salem shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. You're a girl."

"Yeah." Riley shrugged. "But I'm not cis."

"So you were a boy?"

"No." She took a sip of water. "But I'm not cis."

"I don't like the word cis." Salem wrinkled his nose. "Why do we need a word for-"

"If you say normal, I swear to God-" Sam cut himself off, glaring at Salem. "Just fucking respect people's pronouns."

"No." Salem folded his arms. "Why should I?"

"You know what?" Jack smiled. "Salem's right. Why should she need to respect pronouns?" Salem blinked a few times but didn't question it.

The waitress returned a few moments later with their food. "Grilled cheese?"

"Oh yeah, that's hers." Jack pointed over at Salem.

The other half laughed and took the sandwich. "Uh, yeah. I'm a guy."

"Yes she is." Jack nodded solemnly. The waitress just looked too tired to deal with them, so she left the rest of their food on the end of the table for them to sort out themselves. Salem turned to frown at Jack, who shrugged. "What? Why should I respect your pronouns if you don't respect other people's?"

"Why do you fucking care?" Salem muttered.

"Why do you care about purposely doing that?" Jack shrugged, taking an easy bite of his curry. "Because you must. You know. If you feel the need to assert your cis-ness by refusing to use the right pronouns."

"I don't want to use that word."

"How does that affect you being cis?" Jack shrugged.

"You know what? Fine." Salem grabbed his food. "If you're just going to get pissy with me, then bye." He stood up. "C'mon, Belle." He didn't look back to check if Elliot was following him.

Jack just grinned. "Bye Selena!"

Riley glanced at him. "You don't need to go with him if you don't want to," she mumbled.

Elliot shook his head, pulling out his wallet. "It's fine," he mumbled. "I'm sorry about him." He pulled out a hundred and fifty poké. "This should cover my food – sorry." He hurried out of the restaurant after Salem.

Jack swallowed another mouthful of curry. "That was fun."

* * *

Arthur stretched as they left the hostel. Elliot and Riley were both still asleep and they had all done their best not to wake them – Elliot had come back to the hostel in tears at midnight and Riley had had to go on a walk with him to calm him down. None of them were quite sure when the two went to bed.

"Where's the next gym?" Jack murmured, still used to the quiet of the room. It was early, so there were only a few Pidgey milling around on the sidewalk, cooing in the heat.

Sam checked his pokédex and let out a slow breath. "Azalea Town."

"Oh, it's really nice there." Arthur grinned. "My brother and I went there a couple of times as kids. There's a Slowpoke well there and they used to play with us."

Sam stared at him. "You played with Slowpoke as a kid?"

Arthur nodded. "Yeah, we went down into the well and everything. It was _great_."

Sam shook his head. "Okay. That's... okay."

Jack rolled his eyes. "It's not that good of a town." He began walking towards the edge of Violet City. "It's a bit better than here though."

"We'll need to try and get through fast." Arthur chewed his lip. "I don't think they have any hostel or anything aside from the Poké Centre and I don't really want to sleep on the couch there just yet."

Sam just shook his head. "I'm not running for four hours through a forest just because you don't like sleeping on a couch. We'll sleep in the Poké Centre if we have to."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Jack glanced back at the two, eyes flicking between them. "So we're all going there together?"

"I mean it makes sense." Sam shrugged. "We all have fire types so it should be pretty easy. And if anyone's pokémon gets injured, they won't be stranded there."

"I guess." Jack nodded in agreement. A small group of children playing with a soccer ball began nearing them. "We split up after Goldenrod City though. Agreed?"

Arthur shrugged. "I guess. If it makes sense."

"Yeah, we're not going to just split up if it would end badly." Sam narrowed his eyes and flicked hair out of his eyes. "Especially if it's just because of pride."

"I never said it was because of pride," Jack snapped. "I just don't want people do think we're actually friends."

"Hey, watch out!"

Arthur looked up as the soccer ball went astray and pulled Sam out of the way. It bounced off his head and made his vision swim, but it didn't exactly hurt. Not as much as a ball to the face would have.

A small kid ran up to him to grab the ball. "Sorry."

He felt the child's hand brush his wrist and air hit his skin where one of his bands used to be. He grabbed for his wrist, and sure enough, only three bands were left. Fear shot through the child's face as Arthur lurched forward and she darted away, throwing the ball back to her friends.

The friends cheered her on as Arthur shook his head. "Wait!"

"What happened?" Sam asked as Arthur staggered to his feet.

"She stole my fucking wristband." He ran after the child, towards the edge of the town, with his companions not too far behind him.

He was gaining on her, and was usually a bit faster, but he was dizzier than he wanted to admit after being hit by the ball, and they were into the route beyond the city before he managed to grab the kid.

"Let go!" She snarled, pulling away, but Jack swooped in and snatched Arthur's wristband out of her hands. "Hey! I need that!"

"Why do you need it?" Arthur protested. "It's not even yours!"

The girl frowned at him. "Not telling."

"Is it something to do with those kids you were hanging out with?" Sam raised an eyebrow. The child folded her arms.

Jack didn't look impressed by her sullen silence. "You know we can call the police about this, right?"

"It's just a dumb wristband," the girl muttered.

"It's my wristband." Arthur took the band from Jack and clipped it back onto his arm.

The girl rolled her eyes. "They said they'd let me play if I stole something from someone."

Sam's jaw set. "Want to know what to do if someone tells you to do that again?" She peered up at him, cautious. "Punch them and tell them you don't want to play. They're not good people to hang out with if they make you steal stuff."

The girl kicked the ground. "I'm not allowed to hit anyone."

"You're also not allowed to steal stuff," Sam pointed out. "If I show you how to hit someone, will you stop listening to them?" The girl's eyes lit up and she nodded. "What's your name?"

"Carla."

"Okay Carla, show me your best punch."

"I'm just gonna-" Arthur wandered over to a nearby tree and sat down. Jack followed him over.

Carla ignored them and punched Sam's arm. Sam nodded. "Okay, give me your fist." She obliged and Sam untucked Carla's thumb so it was outside her fist. "If you grab your thumb when you punch, you could break it. Go again." The child obliged. "Okay, better. Keep your elbow closer to your body like this." Sam demonstrated though he didn't actually touch her. Carla mimicked his actions. "Great. Now just-"

The lesson continued for a while, with Sam calling Jack up so she could test her punch on him. Once he was satisfied, he nodded. "Okay, you're done. Here."

Arthur made his way back over, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small pin. He held the pin out to Carla. "You can tell them you stole this if you want. That way, you can either play or lure them in close enough to punch them."

"Are you sure?" She looked a little nervous, but Arthur nodded.

"Yeah, go on."

She snatched the pin before he could change his mind and ran back towards the city. "Thanks!"

"That was nice," Sam mumbled as Carla ran out of sight. "Aside from most of it."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Let's go. We shouldn't have stayed this long if you wanted to get there before nightfall."

"It's still only midday," Arthur complained as they began walking. "It's not that far away."

"Given how long it takes Sam to finish his fucking battles, it'll be nightfall before we actually get out of the gym."

Sam glared at him. "Shut up."

* * *

It was the light that woke Elliot, and an unpleasant taste stained his mouth. He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face, turning on his side.

Riley looked up from her book. "Hey."

"Hey," he mumbled. He licked his lips to try and get rid of the taste. "What time is it?"

"About one." Riley slid a bookmark between the pages of her book and closed it. "You okay?"

Elliot frowned. Of course he was. Why- Oh. He groaned again and pulled the duvet over his head. The darkness didn't provide any sanctuary from the memories of Salem screaming at him. "I'm fine," he mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Riley raised an eyebrow and Elliot slumped.

"No. But it's fine."

Riley had already had to deal with way too much of his anxiety attack the night before – she didn't deserve to deal with him just being a self-depreciating slob today.

He let out a slow breath and kicked off the duvet, forcing himself to sit up. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Don't worry about it."

Riley hummed but didn't question him. "We need to go in the next hour unless we pay extra for late checkout."

Elliot shook his head. "No. No, it's fine. I'll be ready once I shower." He grabbed some clothes out of his bag. "Just give me a few minutes."

Riley nodded and picked up her book again as Elliot slipped into the bathroom. Once the door closed and he turned the shower on, he slumped against the door. Calm down. Calm down.

Fuck.

 _"I thought you were my friend!_ Mine!"

 _"I am!"_

 _"Then why didn't you back me up there?"_

 _"Just because I'm your friend doesn't mean I'll tell you that you're right when you're not."_

 _"You think he was right?"_

 _"I just-"_

Elliot squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Breathe. After a few minutes, he forced himself to actually undress and climb into the shower. It was fine. Salem wouldn't hate him. Probably.

 _"There's no 'just'! If you're my friend, then support me!"_

No. There was literally no point in thinking about it. Elliot put the shampoo back and washed out his hair. When he was done, he dried himself off roughly – the texture and movements kept him distracted. He quickly pulled on his clothes and wandered back out to Riley.

She looked up and closed her book. "Ready?"

Elliot nodded, shoving his pyjamas into his bag. "Yeah, let's just go."

Their journey was silent for the largest part, with Elliot occasionally pausing to take a photo of Riley or the surrounding area. She offered to take one of him, but he declined with a small smile and a word of thanks.

After a while, his phone rang and he glanced at it. A photo of Salem grinned up at him. Riley raised an eyebrow. "Maybe don't answer it."

Elliot just shook his head and hit the answer button. "Hello?"

 _"Where are you? I'm at the hostel."_

Elliot hesitated. "Uh, we're already on the way to the next gym."

 _"What? Why didn't you wait for me?"_

"I, uh..." Elliot swallowed, eyes flickering to Riley. "I didn't think you'd want to come with us."

" _Of course I do. You're one of my best friends."_

"Well we're not too far away, so if you want to come-" Riley's eyebrows arched, but Salem cut him off before he could even finish the sentence.

" _No – if you don't want me there, then fine."_

"Wait-" The dial tone rang in his ear and he sighed, hanging up. "Uh, yeah, he's... not coming."

Riley slowly nodded. "I gathered. You okay?"

"I'm fine," Elliot mumbled, looking around. "I'm just... going to take a photo of the flowers over there." He turned his back on her, trying to ignore his burning eyes. He took long, slow breaths as he crouched down by the flowers. Just as he took the photo and calmed down, his eyes landed on the yellow seeds beneath the bush.

He frowned and scooped them into his pocket, double checking to make sure they were all gone before he returned to Riley. She had a handful of similar seeds with her. "Did you find these too?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah. Do you think someone dropped them?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but they're going to make some pokémon drowsy if they eat them."

Elliot nodded. "Let's just... take a look around and make sure there isn't any more. That could get dangerous."

"You sure?" Riley raised an eyebrow.

Elliot just nodded. It would be a good distraction. "Yeah, let's do it."

* * *

Jack sighed and leaned against a tree. "Are you two _done_ yet?"

"We just sat down a few minutes ago," Sam huffed. "We don't need to leave just yet."

"I want to get my next badge."

Arthur scoffed. "What? You're planning on getting every badge in eight days?" He shook his head. "We're going to need to train our pokémon for a bit before we go in to fight."

"I guess." Jack glanced behind him.

"We need to what?" Sam looked up, one earbud dangling from his ear.

"Train our pokémon." Arthur shrugged. "Did you really think we'd be able to take down the next gym today?"

"I mean..." Sam mimicked his action. "Yeah. Fire is strong against bug types so why wouldn't we?"

Jack shook his head. "Cause our pokémon barely beat the last gym. Arthur was slower than me, but he probably fared the best." Arthur shot him with his finger. "You were just reckless as shit and impatient, even with you being slow as hell."

"You were no better," Sam snorted.

"I at least used potions and power increases." Jack rolled his eyes. "You just attacked."

Sam bit his tongue and looked away. He had wanted to finish the fight quickly so his pokémon didn't get too tired, but it wasn't the easiest battle on them and it had been longer than he wanted. "That's fair."

"I know it is. It's a fact." Jack glanced over his shoulder again. "You two need to get better at fighting before you take on the next gym."

"You do too," Sam huffed, turning back to the picture he was doodling in a notebook.

"Maybe." Jack glanced back at him. "But yeah. This gym leader will be a lot stronger than the last one."

Arthur hummed and skipped a song on his phone. "Well we could just- oh!" He jumped up, grabbing a pokéball.

Sam and Jack both looked towards where his attention was now directed to see a brown pokémon with a fluffy mane and long ears nibbling a berry.

"No fucking way," Jack muttered, staring at the Eevee. "How the fuck-"

Arthur threw the pokéball and Cyndaquil popped out. The Eevee turned and glared at the other pokémon. "Ah, fuck, I don't want to hurt it."

"I will." Jack grabbed a pokéball.

"No." Arthur shook his head. "Cyndaquil, use Flame."

"Quil!" His Cyndaquil's tail fire flared as a ball of fire grew in his mouth, and he spat it at the Eevee. The pokémon whined as the fire hit it.

"Now tackle!"

Cyndaquil darted forward, but the Eevee skidded out of the way just in time. It narrowed its eyes and shuddered. Copies of it began to surround Cyndaquil.

Arthur chewed his lip. "Fuck."

"You're useless at this," Jack snorted, shaking his head.

"Shut up." Arthur scowled. "Cyndaquil, use Flare again." Cyndaquil nodded, flare lighting up. Arthur's eyes lit up as the sudden light revealed that only one Eevee had a shadow. "The one right behind you!"

Cyndaquil twisted and aimed the fireball at the Eevee. It knocked the creature off its feet, and the copies vanished. Arthur grabbed a pokéball and threw it, but it missed.

Jack tried not to laugh.

"Fuck off, it's dyspraxia," Arthur muttered. He quickly moved closer to the Eevee and basically dropped the pokéball on it before it could move.

The Eevee vanished inside and the pokéball shook a few times before the red light faded.

Arthur grinned and picked it up. "Thanks, Cyndaquil."

"Quil!" The Cyndaquil beamed at him as he called him back to his pokéball.

"Well that's a change," Sam muttered as Arthur clipped both pokéballs to his belt. "You actually managed to catch something."

Arthur flipped him off, and Jack glanced over his shoulder again. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?" Jack looked back at him.

"Looking behind you."

Jack hesitated. The noises. He could have sworn he heard footsteps following him, and a voice. But it could easily have been a humanoid pokémon. Or another trainer. He was probably just being paranoid again. "Nothing," he mumbled. "Are you two ready to go now?"

"Yeah, yeah. We've got another few hours before sunset." Sam stood up and brushed the grass off his pants.

"Well forgive me for actually wanting to get there in good time." Jack hung back a little, looking around once more. Nothing. A breeze stirred, and the leaves waved down at him as a few Pidgey and Spearow flew overhead. He sighed and followed the other two.

Just his imagination.

* * *

 **Hope it was okay! Please review! See you next** **time!**


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